Global Policy Forum

David Rudge

A top Hizbullah official said Monday that the organization no longer recognizes the UN-delineated Israeli withdrawal line.

The comment raised speculation that the radical Shi'ite group may be laying the groundwork for an intensification of hostilities from across the Lebanese border.

The comment by Shiekh Mohammed Ra'ad, leader of Hizbullah's faction in the Lebanese parliament, came amid reports that the IDF is maintaining a high alert along the northern border.

Ra'ad, in an interview with the Asharq al-Awsat Arabic-language newspaper, said Hizbullah refuses to accept any cease-fire or negotiations with Israel or to recognize the withdrawal line.

He said the "blue line," to which the IDF withdrew when it pulled out of Lebanon in May 2000 in full compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 425, was a "superpower's demarcation and we don't recognize it." In the past, military commanders of Hizbullah have said it would not be bound by the blue line and especially in the Shaba farms area of Mount Dov, which the organization, backed by the Syrian and Lebanese governments, claims is Lebanese land.

Ra'ad said in the interview that the organization would liberate the farms and had the "wisdom to choose the right time, circumstances, and place." Security sources said such comments from a high-ranking political figure were a possible indication of Hizbullah's future intentions, especially in light of warnings that it is planning major attacks.

Other analysts, however, said the rhetoric could be aimed at countering the pressure Hizbullah has been coming under in recent weeks both on the home front and particularly from the US.

The organization is facing increasing criticism inside Lebanon over its "state-within-a-state" status, as well as its military operations. The US, meanwhile, has been leading international pressure on Syria, the main power-broker in Lebanon and on Hizbullah's patron, Iran, to curb the organization and prevent an escalation along the northern border which could spark a regional war.

Hizbullah has increased its anti-aircraft shelling over the Galilee in retaliation for alleged violations by IAF warplanes of Lebanese air space, while temporarily ceasing cross-border attacks on IDF positions in the Mount Dov region.

Lebanese oberservers say it remains to be seen how the organization will act in the near future in light of the various pressures and conflicting interests, including trying to retain the support of the Lebanese people while supporting the Palestinians and implementing the wishes of the hardline regime in Teheran.

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